Two new, more serious Securities Act charges have been laid against collapsed Bridgecorp executive directors Rodney Petricevic and Robert Roest in Auckland District Court.
The new charges accuse the pair of signing a false prospectus and a mis-statement in an advertisement.
They carry a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or fines of up to $300,000.
They previously faced two charges under the Securities Act and one under the Companies Act.
The pair have been remanded on bail to reappear in court on October 21.
Bridgecorp collapsed last year owing 14,500 investors almost $460 million.
In a statement released after the court hearing, the Securities Commission says the new charges arose from claims in the Bridgecorp prospectus about the company's record of making payments to investors.
It says that charges were laid by the Companies Office at the request of the commission, following further investigations into statements in the prospectus.
The charges were laid under section 58 of the Securities Act which makes it an offence to distribute a prospectus containing an untrue statement.
The charges allege that the company missed many payments from February 2007 until it was placed in receivership in July 2007, but continued to claim to the contrary in its prospectus.
The commission says it is continuing inquiries into Bridgecorp and other finance companies.
